Nailing machine



July 17, 1962 L. J. HAYNES 3,044,072

NAILING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVBNTOR. LUTHER J. HAYNES FIG'I BY AT TORN EY Juiy 17, 1962 L. J. HAYNES NAILING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 17. 1958 FIG. 3

FIG.4

INVENTOR.

LUTHER Jf HAYNES FIG. 2

ATTORNEY July 17, 1962 L. J. HAYNES NAILING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 17, 1958 INVENTOR; LUTHER J. HAYNES BY J FIG. 5

ATTORNEY y 7, 1962 J. HAYNES 3,044,072

N AILING MACHINE Filed March 17, 195B 7 s t s 4 INVENTOR. LUTHER J. HAYNES BY A, FIG. 6

ATTORNEY July 17, 1962 L. J. HAYNES NAILING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 17, 1958 INVENTOR. LUTHER J. HAYNES FIG. -7

ATTORNEY y 1962 J. HAYNES 3,044,072

NAILING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. LUTHER J. HAYNES 'BY J 1 ML ATTORNEY July 17, 1962 L. J. HAYNES 3,044,072

NAILING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 n7 FIGIO FIGH INVENTORY, LUTHER J. HAYNES ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,044,072 NAILING MACHINE Luther J. Haynes, 183 Meadow Brook Drive, Auburn, Ala. Filed Mar. 17, 1958, Ser. N 0. 721,854 8 Claims. (Cl. 1-46) This invention relates to nailing machines and is more particularly concerned with a portable nailing machine which carries a plurality of nails and is adapted to drive these nails successively into selected objects at various locations.

In the past many nailing machines have been devised; however, most of these have been stationary machines to which the work to be nailed is fed. Obviously such machines are limited to only certain operations. Other nailing machines have been devised which are portable in nature; however, these machines usually require complicated mechanisms and are extremely bulky. In addition, these portable machines usually are adapted to receive only one size nail or one shape nail, the machine having to be radically changed in order to adapt the same to other sizes or other shapes of nails. Furthermore, the machines of the prior art have included devices having rotatable cylinders with a plurality of barrels which must be successively aligned with another barrel since the hammer mechanism must pass through the aligned barrels to discharge the nail. Generally, such prior art devices have included cams, gears and cog wheels which,

under ordinary use, usually become clogged and jammed with dirt or debris and may thereby be rendered inoperative.

In order to obviate the prior art disadvantages described above, I have devised a readily portable, light, compact mechanism having an electric motor which drives the hammer mechanism. This machine is divided into an upper and a lower assembly, the former of which contains the driving mechanism and is adapted to be telescoped into the lower section in such a manner as to allow the hammer mechanism to contact and subsequently drive the nail into the work. Contained within the lower assembly of my invention is a novel feeding mechanism which will successively deliver nails of the same or of dilierent size into position to be driven into the work upon engagement with the hammer mechanism. Through this arrangement, each nail is accurately delivered to a precise location determined by the operator and driven into final position, with the head of the nail substantially flush with the surface of the work. 7

Accordingly, it is among the general objects of this invention to provide a device of the character referred to which is effective and efiicient in operation, rugged and durable in structure and well designed to meet the demands of economic manufacture.

Another object of my invention is to provide a portable lightweight nailing machine the parts of which are simply and compactly arranged, easily disassembled and readily manipulated with a minimum of physical effort.

Another object of my invention is to provide a nailing machine which will accurately and precisely drive a nail into a suitable object to the proper depth.

Another object of my invention is to provide a nailing machine which is substantially universal in operation, being readily adapted to receive and drive nails of a wide variety, size and type including nails having other head configurations, such as finishing nails.

Another object of my invention is to provide a nailing machine having a feeding mechanism which will suecessively feed nails, substantially regardless of the configuration of the nail head.

Another object of my invention is to provide a nailing debris becoming lodged in the mechanism and which is easily disassembled and reassembled.

Another object of my invention is to provide, in a nailing machine, a feeding mechanism which is adapted Still a further object of my invention is to provide, in I an automatic nailing machine, a simple, efiective and eflicient mechanism for separately and individually aligning and feeding successive nails to the hammer mechan1sm.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout several views and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a nailing machine constructed in accordance with my invention, a portion of the hopper thereof being broken away.

aFIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along lines 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a prospective Vertical sectional view taken along the same plane as in FIG. 2, the motor and handle FIG. 6 is an enlarged, exploded, detail view of the hopper and upper portion of the nail feeding mechanism of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, exploded detail of the feeding mechanism with the guard plate removed showing the position of the parts at the end of a driving cycle.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing the feed mechanism supplying another nail to the driving position prior to releasing the nail.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, exploded perspective view showing the detail of the nail receiving chamber of the nailing machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG, 10 is a cross sectional View showing the detail of one of the jaws of the mechanism shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is an end elevational View of a detail showing the jaw of FIG. 10.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment chosen to illustrate the present invention, it being understood that the illustrations here presented are not to be considered restrictive since other embodiments may be devised. In the drawings, numeral 10 denotes the lower housing of my machine which comprises a tubular body or barrel adapted to remain in a relatively stationary position during the nailing operation. For this purpose, a foot 11 projects from the lower edge of barrel 10, being secured by a pin 13 to ears 15 projecting from retaining ring 12 which encircles the lower end of barrel 10. In normal use, the operator places his foot on foot 11 to steady the nailing machine in position,

At the upper end of barrel 10' is a flat annular flange member 15 which receives the flange 16 of a collar 17..

The hollow portions of barrel 10 and collar 17 are in substantial registry with each other except that collar 17 is housing 18, is a'hollow cylindrical member of substantialIy the same outside diameter as the internal diameter of collar 17 and the outer surface of housing 18 is provided with radially spaced longitudinally extending keys 2.1. Keys21 are adapted to slide in a plurality of complementary keyways in collar 17 and are guided along one side of keys 22' in barrel in order to maintain the stability and alignment of housing 18 within barrel 10. Thus it will be seen that upper housing 18 is adapted to telescope within lower housing or barrel 10.

The upper end of upper housing 18 is enlarged to provide a housing head 23 provided with a hollow chamber 24 open atone side to receive the drive shaft 25 of a motor 26. It will be understood that motor 26 is secured by suitable bolts (not shown) to head 23, with the shaft 25 projecting into housing 24, to terminate in a flat disc 27. Secured between head 23 and motor 26 is a suitable handle 28 having a trigger 29 recessed in the grip portion of handle 28. Extending from the handle 28, is a suitable electrical cord 30, adapted to be connected to a source of current, to supply current through the switch.

of trigger 29 to motor 26.

It will, therefore, be understood that upon the squeezing of trigger 29 by the operator, motor 26 will be energized, thereby rotating shaft 25 and disc 27. Eccentrically mounted on the disc 27,

.with respect to shaft 25, is a stub shaft 31 which projects through an appropriate bushing 32 at one end of a pitman 33. The pitman 33 is provided at its other end with an impacting ball 34 which is adapted to ride Within the upper end of a bearing sleeve 35 extending axially through substantially the entire length of housing 18.'

Carried sleeve 35 and below ball 34, is a hammer mechanism denoted generally by numeral 36. The upper end of hammer mechanism 36 includes a solid cylindrical ball engaging member 37 adapted to slide within sleeve 35 and provided with a concave upper end 38 in registry with ball 34. The lower end of ball engaging member 37 is provided with a hammer rod 39 of smaller diameter than member 37. Rod 39 projects through a retaining plug 40 which is threaded into the lower end of upper housing 18. A coil spring 41 encircles the upper end of hammer rod 39 and acts against the lower end of member 37 to urge member 37 against ball 34. Thus, upon rotation of shaft 25, stub shaft 31 will reciprocate pitman 33, moving ball 34 upwardly and downwardly in sleeve 35 and hence, urging hammer member 36 downwardly, on each downward stroke, against the compressor force of spring 41. In turn, on upward strokes of ball 34, spring 41 returns the hammer mechanism 36 to its original position. It is now seen therefore that hammer rod 39 will be vertically recipro-cated upon energization of motor 26.

Around the upper edge of the cylindrical portion of housing 18, is a spring retaining collar 42 including a downwardly turned peripheral flange 43. This peripheral .flange 43 receives the upper turns of a coil spring 44 which extends downwardly around the outside of upper housing 18 to terminate at flange 16. Thus, it is seen that normally spring 44 will urge upper housing 18 into the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the upward movement of housing 18 being limited by stop 19. Upon application of pressure downwardly on handle 28 by the operator, the compressive force of spring 44 will be overcome and the upper housing 18 will be urged into lower 8 housing or barrel 10, the keyways 21' riding over keys 22 to retain upper housing 18 in its aligned position. Of course, when pressure is no longer applied to the handle 28, spring will return upper housing 18 to its normal position.

Referring now in detail to FIGS. 1 and 6 of the drawings, it will be seen that I have provided, in the feeding mechanism, as a means forfreceiving and aligning the nails to be driven, a hopper having sloping sides which taper or converge to a slit 51 which extends along the lower portion of the hopper, the slit being of sutficient width to receive the body of a nail but of insuflicient width to permit the head to pass therethrough. Slit 51 is arranged at an angle, as seen in FIG. 1, so that upon placing a plurality of nails in the hopper, they will fall downwardly and align themselves with the body of each nail projecting through slit 51 while its head is retained in the lower portion of the hopper. At the lower end of slit 51 is a wider portion 52 through which the nails may pass, the width of portion 52 being wider than the head of the nails. Over this wider portion 52 is a protective plate 53 which projects from the upper edge of hopper 50 downwardly to terminate in a lower edge 54 spaced slightly above slit 51. Thus, it is impossibel for nails to enter directly into the wider portion 52 without first falling into slit 51 since the space between slit 50 and lower edge 54 is only sufiicient to permit the head of a nail to pass therethrough. To retain the nails in alignment along slit 51, l have provided a pairof spaced guide flanges 55, 55' which project from the lower edge of the hopper substantially parallel to each other. The side edges of guide flanges 55, 55 terminate at a feed tube 56 provided with a slot communicating with the space between flanges 55, 55'. The upper end of tube 56 communicates with the wide portion 52 of slit 51, while the lower portions project below flanges 55, 55. Intermediate the ends of tube 56 are a pair of tube carrying plates 57, 57 which are so cured together by bolts 58 so as to clamp tube 56 therebetween. Plates 57, 57 also clamp the lower end of a supporting rod 59, the other end of which is secured to flanges 55, 55' to provide a brace therefor. The lower outer edges of plates of 57 and 57' are milled to provide a pair of rabbets 60, 60.

Below plates 57 and 57 is an irregular shaped hopper support member 61 which is drilled at an angle to provide a feedchute 62 and counterbored as at 62' to permit the entrance of tube 56. Adjacent the mouth of chute 62, member 61 is provided with an upper groove defined by wings 63 and 63. The hopper'assem bly of my mechanism is so constructed that tube 56 will extend into chute 62 and plates 57, 57' will be received in the kerf defined by wings 63, 63', these wings being received by rabbets 60, 60'.

Below the lower end or tube 56, member 61 is provided with a cavity 64 in which a nail arresting lever 65 is retained. Lever 65 is pivoted about a pivot screw 66 which is threadedly engaged in member 61. The lower end of lever 65 is urged to the left as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 by a coil spring 67 recessed in an appropriate cavity 68 in member 61. The upper arm of lever 65 projects upwardly to terminate in a means for arresting the movement of nails, which in the present embodiment is a horizontally extending nail engaging plate 69. It will be understood that through the action of spring 67, nail engaging plate 69 is normally urged to the right as in FIGV 8 but that when the tension of spring 67 is overcome, plate 68 will be moved to the left as in FIG. 7 to thereby project into an intermediate portion of chute 62 and engage the body or head portion of a nail, such as nail 70' in chute 62.

Mounted adjacent member 61 and receiving one edge of member 61 between spaced flanges 71, 71' is a rocker assembly supporting frame 72 having a vertically disposed slot 73 through which the lower end of member 61 projects so that chute 62 terminates in a discharge month Within frame 72. 'A casing 74 fits over that portion of frame 72 below member 61 and defines a rocker assembly housing below lever 65. i

The inner surface'75 of frame 72-is concaved and is appropriately secured to the side of barrel 10 in registry with an opening therein. Thus it is seen that the hopper assembly, member 61, frame 72 and casing 74 are supported adjacent barrel Ill, as shown in FIG. 1.

At the lower portion of flanges 71, 71', I have provided a pair of aligned holes 75, 75' which receive a pin 76. Mounted for pivotal movement about pin 7 6 is a channel shaped nail delivery means including a feed means or rocker 77 which projects upwardly within slot 73 and within casing 74. The upper end of rocker 77, which terminates immediately below the mouth of chute 62, is provided with a nail blocking plate 78 having nail receiving means which in the present embodiment are a pair of spaced protruding fingers 79, 79 which are adapted to receive and retain by its head a nail, such as nail 80 discharged from chute 62. Rocker 77, however, is normally urged forwardly by a leaf spring 3-1 mounted within casing 74 by a screw 82, hence a nail being released by engaging plate 69 will fall onto the plate 78, such as nail '70, and then down to a position between finger 79, 79 as the plunger 18 is forced downward by the operator, as will be discussed later.

The outer edge, or edge opposite fingers 79, 79' of plate 78, is bent slightly upwardly so that when rocker 77 is urged outwardly against the pressure of spring 81', it will engage a spring finger 83 projecting downwardly from lever 65 and thereby pivot lever 65 to carry plate 69 into engagement with a nail, such as nail 70, as "described above. It is to be noted that the length of chute 62 between plate 69 and plate 78 is roughly the length of a long nail, say one of the larger size nails to be used in my machine. Therefore, when a plurality of nails are stacked with the point of one nail on the head of the nail below in chute 62 and tube 56, the lowermost or endmos-t nail will rest with its point at the mouth of chute'62 upon plate 78 and that upon movement outwardly of rocker 77, the lowermost nail, such as nail 80, will slide between fingers 78, 79 until its head engages and is retained by fingers 79, 79. During that time, plate 78 will have acted against spring finger 83 to pivot lever 65 and move plate 69 into engagement with some portion of the nail next above nail 80, namely nail 70 as seen in FIG. 8.

As rocker 77 is pivoted back to its normal position, lever 65 also pivots back to its normal position and plate 69 drops nail 70 whereby the next nail above nail 70 is in a position to be engaged by plate 69. It is therefore seen that each time rocker 77 is cycled, a new nail is delivered to fingers 79, 79'.

As an additional part of my feeding mechanism, below plate 78 and carried by rocker 77, is a discharge means comprising a pair of alignment fingers 84 and '85, pivoted about pivot pins 86 and 87, respectively, which project between the sides of rocker 77. The inner arm of fingers 84 and 85 are curved downwardly and terminate in notches in such a position to receive and act against the body portion of a nail, for example, nail 8t), retained by fingers 79, 79'. The outer arms of fingers 34 and 85 project through an appropriate opening in rocker 77 and their ends are linked together by a connecting arm 88, the ends of fingers 84 and 85 being pivotally secured thereto by pivot pins 89 and 90, respectively. From FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 it will be seen that connecting arm 83 projects below lever 85 and is provided with a transverse pin 91 carrying one end of coil spring 92. The other end of coil spring 92 is connected by means of a bolt 93 to a block 94 fixed on the inner wall of casing 74. Thus, connecting arm 88 is urged downwardly when rocker 77 is urged to the left by leaf spring 81 as shown in 'FIG. 8, thereby causing the fingers 84 and 85 to project to the left, while, when rocker 77 is pivoted to the right as shown in FIG. 7 the pull of spring 92 on connecting arm 88 is relieved and hence the inner arms of alignment fingers 84 and 85 will pivot to project downwardly and inwardly at an angle, as shown.

For pivoting rocker 77, I have provided within barrel 10 an actuator means or carnming member denoted generally by numeral 101) which is adapted to cooperate with a cam follower wheel 101 mounted by a stub shaft 10210 the side of rocker 77. When the camming member 100 is moved downwardly, its beveled surface 103 acts against cam follower wheel 101 to pivot it in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 7, and when camming member 100 is returned to its original position, rocker 77 is returned by spring 81 to the position shown in FIG. 8. Thus, upon successive cycles of cammingmember 14H), successive nails are delivered to the barrel 10.

From an examination of FIG. 9, it will be seen that I have provided within an intermediate part of barrel 10, a chamber assembly including a pair of spaced discs 1G4 and 105 which support therebetween a vertically disposed U-shaped chamber member 106 defining a nail chamber 107 which opens toward rocker 77 and is adapted to receive the inner arms of levers 84 and 85. As seen in FIG. 2, the ends of chamber member 106 respectively project through central openings in the upper disc 104 and lower disc 165 whereby upon downward pressure on handle 28, moving housing 18 within barrel 10, hammer rod 39 will enter and pass through the nail chamber 107 of chamber member 106. Hammer rod 39 and housing 18 are of such length that, as the shoulder of plug 40 comes to rest upon the top of disc 104 with the hammer rod in its bottommost position, the lower end of hammer rod 39 is substantially flush with the lower outer end of barrel 10. However, when pressure is released from handle 28 and housing 18 is urged outwardly from within housing 10, the bottommost portion of the hammer rod 39 is out of the nail chamber 107 so that the rod will not interfere with the entrance of another nail. Thus, each time handle 28 is urged downwardly and then released, plug to is moved down to a position adjacent disc 104 and hammer rod 3-9 is caused to pass through chamber 107. Adjacent outwardly of chamber member 166 is a magazine actuator rod 108 which is journaled for slidable movement through disc 1M and guide block 169, the latter being fixedly positioned in a corner formed by lower disc and an outer side of chamber member 106. The upper end of rod 108 projects above disc 104 in a position to be contacted by shoulder of the plug 40 as the same is moved downwardly. Camming member 190 is fixed on rod 168 between guide block 109 and disc 104 and is normally urged upwardly against the bottom of disc 104 by a coil spring .1111 surrounding the portion of rod 168 between the lower end of camming member 100 and the upper surface of guide block 109. Thus, at all times cam-ming member 100 is urged to the position shown in FIGS. 8 and 9; however, when the shoulder of plug 41 contacts the upper end of red 1458 during the nailing cycle of my machine, rod 108 will be moved downwardly against the compressive force of spring 110 until camming member 100 is in the position shown in FIG. 7.

Mounted opposite camming member 100 and parallel therewith, there is a guard plate 111 which protrudes from the edge of chamber 107 and, acting as a guard for nails entering the chamber 107, prevents the accidental discharge of a nail into the lower housing 10. To further aid the entrance of, say nail 80, into the chamber 107, the bottom edge of niche 95 in (list: 104 has been beveled, as at 112, at such an angle as to permit the unobstructed entrance of fingers 79 and 79 intothe housing 10 and thence into chamber 107 where the nail is to be deposited.

Referring again to FIG. 9, it will be seen that I have provided a nail alignment means including a pair of opposed complementary jaws 113, 113 pivo-t ally carried within a transversely walled portion 114 of disc 1115, by

central portion of each of the aforesaid inner edges is,

jaws 123, 123' closed.

that hammer rod 39 may pass through the same. This central opening in disc 105 is concentric with hole 117 so that with a nail positioned within hole 117, the end of hammer rod 39 will engage the head of that nail as will be hereinafter described.

From an examination of FIGS. and 11, it will be seen that the upper surface of jaw 113 is concave to provide a surface 118 which tapers toward hole 117. Similai'ly, jaw 113' is provided with a complementary concavely tapered surface. Therefore, when a nail is released from the rocker assembly, it will fall downwardly withinchamber 107 and its point will be guided by the surfaces, such as surface 118, to hole 117.

Spaced below disc 105 in barrel 10, at a distance preferably less than the length of the shortest nail to be used in my machine, is an alignment assembly 120 which is substantially identical to disc 105'except that it is rotated 90 with respect to disc 105- Disc 120 is provided with a groove 124 having jaws 123, 123 which are hinged by pins .125 and'urged together by springs 126, 126 in the same manner as jaws 113, 113 are hinged and urged together. Jaws 123, 123' are further provided with a hole 127, similar to hole 117, and aligned therewith axially of barrel 10. It will be noted that hole 127 issmaller than hole 117 so as to allow the entrance of only the point of the nail and thereby prevent the nail from accidentally dropping out of the machine; furthermore, such arrangement retains the nail in a vertical position with the nail head generally concentric with the hammer rod 39. Recessed in the upper concave surface of 7 disc 120 are cavities which receive springs 116, 116' under compression to provide a reaction platform against which these springs :act in urging jaws 113, 113 closed.-

Spaced below disc 120 and located at the lower end of barrel 10 is a circular cap .130 closing the end of barrel 10. The outer surface 131 of cap 130'is smooth and flat to abut the surface which is to receive the nail from my machine. cap 130 in alignment with hammer rod 39* and holes 117 and 127. Opening 132 is sufliciently large that the head of the largest nail contemplated for my machine may pass through and is also sufficiently large that the end of hammer rod 39 may pass therethrough. As seen best in FIG. 9, cap 130 is provided with an upstanding annular flange 133 adapted to be snugly received within the end of barrel 10 so that the end of barrel 10 abuts the peripheral shoulder 134 of cap 130. The inner surface 135 of cap 130 is conicahtapering toward hole 132 so that the jaws 123, 123 will have sufficient movement to allow the hammerrod .to pass between them. Provided inthe conical surface -135 are-appropriate recesses, such as recess 136, to receive springs 126, 126', thereby forming a reaction base against which springs 126, 126' urge Operation Considering now the operation of my nailing machine 'in the light of the foregoing construction, a quantity of nails is loaded into the hopper 50, preferably with the points down. However, itwillbe understood that hopper 50 is so shaped that even though-some of the nails .are not so positioned, they will usuallyfall properly into place. As explained above, slit 51, at the bottom of hopper 50, receives the nails and is normally at an angle from the horizontal so that the nails slide succes- 8 cession fall into tube 56 and thence into chute 62 Where the lowermost nail comes to rest with its point on the upper surface of'nail delivery plate 78. The next preceding nail, of course, rests with its point von the head of the first nail, etc. Thus, it is seen that some portion of the body of the nail, next preceding the bottomrnost nail, is aligned with nail engaging plate 69.

vAfter loading my nailing machine, handle 28' is depressed, thereby urging housing 18- downwardly within barrel 10 whereby the shoulder of plug 40 engages the head of rod 108 and pushes it downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 8. As rod 108 moves downwardly it carries camming member 100 downwardly so as to move surface 103 thereof against cam follower wheel 101 and thereby urges cam follower wheel 101 outwardly. Since cam follower wheel 101 is connected to rocker 77,

the movement of wheel 1111 outwardly causes rocker 77 to pivot outwardly about pivot pin 76 until it is in the position shown in FIG. 7. With the movement of rocker 77 outwardly, nail receiving plate 78 slides along the point of the first nail until chute 62 is partially uncovered and the first nail drops to the position shown for nail S0 in FIG. 7, the nail 80 being retained in position by its head which now rests upon fingers 79, 79 with the body of nail 80 pendant so as to rest against the grooves in the ends of levers 84 and 85.

As nail retaining plate 78 moves outwardly and immediately priorto'the time that the first nail falls into the position shown for nail 80 in FIG. 7, the outer edge of nail retaining plate 78 engages spring finger 83 to pivot lever 65, against the pressure of spring 67, into the position shown in FIG. 7 whereby nail engaging plate 69 engages the subsequent nail indicated as nail 70. With further movement of rocker 77, spring 83 is merely flexed and will return to its original position when rocker 77 returns to its original position.

Next, the pressure on handle 28 is relieved permitting spring 44 to return housing 18 to the position shown in FIG. .2 thus readying my nailing machine for operation because spring 110 will return rod 108 and thence camming member 100 to the position shown in FIG. 8. Since A central opening 132 is provided in sively, with their heads carried by the edges of slitSl,

toward wider portion 52 of slit 51. As each successive nail approaches wider portion 52 its head passes beneath protective plate 53 which acts to preclude entrance of any nail which is misaligned. Thus, the'nails in enecamming surface 103 is, therefore, no'longer contacting cam follower wheel 101, rocker 77 will be pivoted by spring 81 back to its original position shown in FIG. 8. It will also be understood that with the inward movement of rocker 77, carrying with it nail 80, the outer edge of nail retaining plate 78 is withdrawn from spring finger 83 permitting lever to pivot by the action of spring 67 to the position shown in FIG. 8, thus withdrawing plate '69 from engagement with nail and permitting nail 70 to move downwardly by gravity until its point rests upon plate 78.

With the inward pivoting of rocker 77, the distance between block 93 and pin 91 is increased and hence connecting arm 88 is urged downwardly by .spring 92. The movement of connecting arm 92 downwardly pivotslevers 84 and 85 to essentially a horizontal position as shown in FIG. 8, thus urging the nail, point first, into chamber 107 where the point strikes the wall opposite the rocker causing the nail to pivot about finger 84 and away from fingers 79 and 79'. In this manner, the nail is deposited into chamber 107 from which the nail. fallsby gravity into the alignment jaws 113, 113 and 123, 123', where it is held in position below the hammer rod 39 as described above.

Next, the operator again depresses handle 28, thereby urging hammer rod 39 through disc 104 and againstthe head of nail in the aligning jaws. With further pressure, nail 80 is nrgeddownwardly through jaws 123, 123' so that the point of nail 80 passes through hole 132 where it contacts the work. With the apparatus in this position, operator next depresses trigger 29 energizing motor 28 which rotates the fiat disc 27 and reciprocates pitrnan 34 which in turn reciprocates the hammer mechanism 37 under the influence of spring 41. This, of

course, reciprocates hammer rod 39 which supplies the hammering action necessary to drive the nail into the work. With motor 26 still energized, the operator applies further pressure downwardly on handle 28 urging upper housing 18 still further into barrel 10, causing the reciprocating head of hammer rod 39 to deliver successive blows upon the head of nail 8'0 and drive the same through hole 132 and into the work until the head of nail 80 is substantially flush with surface 131 of cap 130. In this respect, it will be remembered that levers 84 and '85 are spring loaded and will pivot downwardly and out of chamber 107 as hammer rod 39 is moved downwardly; furthermore, jaws 113, 113 and 123, 123 are also spring loaded and will function in a similar manner.

As the upper housing 18 is urged downwardly for the driving of the nail by hammer rod 39, cap 40 will again depress rod 108 urging oamming surface 1&3 against cam follower 101 and thereby urging rocker 77 to the right in FIGS. 7 and 8 to uncover chute 70 and permit the lowermost nail in chute 70 to drop downwardly until its head is received by fingers 79, 79, this nail is then delivered to chamber 107 as hammer rod 39 and housing 18 are returned to their original position. The cycle described above may be repeated until all nails are driven successively from my machine.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the single embodiment chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and that full resort may be had to equivalents. Further, parts may be combined or made integral or elements may be reversed without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a nailing machine having a chamber for receiving successive nails and a power driven hammer mechanism for driving said nails, the combination therewith of a nail feed mechanism, said nail feed mechanism comprising a rocker pivotally mounted adjacent said chamber for pivotal movement toward and away from said chamber, a nail retaining plate carried by said rocker, said nail retaining plate having a pair of opposed fingers extending toward said chamber between which successive nails are retained, and means having a chute adjacent said plate to deliver said nails one after the other successively to said plate, said rocker being adapted when pivoted toward said chamber to position said plate at the mouth of said chute and when pivoted away from said chamber to position said fingers beneath said chute.

2. In a nailing machine having a chamber for receiving successive nails and a hammer mechanism for driving said nails, the combination therewith of a nail feed mechanism, said nail feed mechanism comprising a feed means movable toward and away from said chamber, chute means having a tube slightly larger than the head of a conventional nail in which nails are adapted to be stacked one on top of the other, a plate carried by said feed means and adapted to be positioned below said chute in one position of said feed means to preclude discharge of said nails from said chute, and nail receiving means carried by said feed means to be positioned adjacent said chute in another position of said feed means to receive and hold the endmost nail from said chute and to thereafter deliver said endmost nail to said chamber upon movement of said feed means to said one position.

3. In a nailing machine having a chamber for receiving successive nails and a power driven hammer mechanism for driving said nails, the combination therewith of a nail feed mechanism, said nail feed mechanism comprising a feed means movable toward and away from said chamber, chute means having a tube slightly larger than the head of a conventional nail in which nails are adapted to be stacked one on top of the other, a plate carried by said feed means and adapted to be positioned below said chute in one position of said feed means to preclude discharge of said nails from said chute, nail receiving means carried by said feed means to be positioned adjacent said 10'. chute in another position of said feed means to receive and hold the endmost nail from said chute and to thereafter deliver said endmost nail to said chamber upon movement of said feed means to said one position, and discharge means carried by said feed means and actuated by movement of said feed means, said discharge means being adapted to discharge nails carried by said nail v receiving means into said chamber.

4. In a nailing machine having a chamber for receiving successive nails and a power driven hammer mechanism for driving said nails, the combination therewith of a nail feed mechanism, said nail feed mechanism comprising a feed means movable toward and away from said chamber, chute means having a tube slightly larger than the head of a conventional nail in which said nails are adapted to be stacked one on top of the other, a plate carried by said feed means and adapted to be positioned below said chute in one position of said feed means to preclude discharge of said nails from said chute, nail receiving means earned by said feed means to be positioned adjacent said chute in another position of said feed means to receive and hold the endmost nail from said chute and to thereafter deliver said endmost nail to said chamber upon movement of said feed means to said one position, discharge means carried by said feed means and actuated by movement of said feed means, said discharge means being adapted to discharge nails carried by said nail receiving means into said chamber, downwardly convering jaw means pivotally carried within said chamber and aligned with said hammer means and said chamber to receive and hold in alignment for hammer action of said hammer mechanism nails from said chamber, and means actuated by movement of said feed means to arrest the movement of all nails toward said mouth in said chute during the time said nail receiving means is receiving said endmost nail.

5. A nailing machine comprising a hollow cylindrical lower housing, an upper housing movable axially of said lower housing to telescope within said lower housing, a reciprocatable hammer rod carried by said upper housing and extending into said lower housing, a motor carried by said upper housing, a pitman driven by said motor, a ball on the end of said motor pitman engageable with an end of said hammer-rod, resilient means urging said upper and lower housings apart, a chamber assembly positioned within said lower housing below said hammer means, said chamber assembly being provided with a chamber aligned with said hammer-rod and through which said hammer-rod is passed when said upper housing is depressed toward said lower housing, a feed means positioned adjacent said chamber, a chute means positioned adjacent said feed means, said chute means having a chute therein for delivering nails to said feed means, means actuated by movement of said upper housing to actuate said feed means to deliver said nails one at a time to said chamber, and means for successively retaining each nail delivered by said feed means to said chamber in alignment with said hammer-rod for inpingement by said hammer rod to urge the nail out of said barrel.

6. A nailing machine comprising a hollow cylindrical lower housing, an upper housing connected to said lower housing and slidablewit-hin said lower housing, means resiliently urging said upper housing to its normal posi tion in direction away from said lower housing, a handle on said upper housing for depressing said upper housing toward said lower housing, a hammer mechanism carried by said upper housing, said hammer mechanism including a reciprocatable hammer-rod, a chamber means within said lower housing having a chamber aligned with said rod and through which said rod is adapted to extend, said rod being of suflicient length that the end of said rod is adjacent the end of the lower housing when said upper housing is depressed and sufiiciently short that said rod is removed from said chamber when said ried at the end of said rocker, chute means above said,

plate provided with a chute having a mouth adjacent said plate, means normally urging said rocker toward said chamber, nail receiving means connected to said rocker to receive and retain the endmost nail from said chute when said rocker is pivoted away from said chamber, discharge means actuatable by movement of said rocker to transfer a nail from said nail receiving means to said chamber, means for actuating said rocker upon movement of said upper housing, means :for arresting movement as said endmost nail is received by said nail receiving means of all nails in said chute after said .endmost nail, and means for aligning nails in said lower housing with said hammer-rod.

7. A nailing machine comprising a hollow cylindrical housing, an upper housing connected to said lower housing and slidable within said lower housing, means resiliently urging said upper housing to its normal position in direction away from said lower housing, a hammer mechanism carried by said upper housing, said hammer mechanism including a reciprocatable hammer-rod, a chamber means within said lower housing having a chamber aligned with said rod and through which said rod is adapted to extend, said rod being of suificient'length that the end of said rod is adjacent the end of the lower housing when said upper housing is depressed and sufiiciently short that said rod is removed from said chamber when said upper housing is in its normal position, a feeding mechanism adjacent said lower housing, said feed- 7 ing mechanism includinga rocker mounted for pivotal movement toward and away from said chamber, a plate carried at the end of saidmcker, chute means above said plate provided with a chute'having a mouth'adjacent said plate, nail receiving means connected to said rocker to receive and retain the endmost nail from said chute when said'rocker is pivoted away from said chamber and to deliver said endmost nail to said chamber when said rocker is pivoted toward said chamber, and means for actuating said rocker upon movement of said upper housing.

8. A nailing machine comprising a housing, a hammer mechanism including a reciprocatable hammer-rod positioned adjacent said housing, means for moving said hammer mechanism with respect to said housing, a chamber means within said housing having a' chamber aligned with said hammer-rod and through which said hammer-rod'is adapted to extend, said hammer-rod being of suflicient length that the end of said rod is adjacent the end of said housing when said hammer mechanism is in another position, a feeding mechanism adjacent'said housing, said feeding mechanism including feed means movable toward and away from said chamber, a plate carried by said feed means, chute means above said plate provided with a chute having a mouth adjacent said plate, means normally urging said feed means toward said chamber, and nail receiving means connected to said feed means to receive and retain the endmost nail from said chute when said feed means is away from said chamber, and to deliver said endmost nail to saidchamber when'said feed means is toward said chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 225,482 Mower Mar. 16, 1880 432,477 Casey July 15, 1890 926,412 Hayssen June 29, 1909 1,717,402 Pope June 18, 1929 2,009,580 Govanus July 30, 1935 2,078,064 Day Apr. 20, ,1937 2,222,125 Stehlik Nov. 19, 1940 2,799,858 Bacon July 23, 1957 2,845,625 Appell Aug. 5, 1958 2,901,749 Crossen Sept. 1, 1959 

